Luca Brasi
Category:Characters | aliases = | film = | franchise = The Godfather | image = | notability = | type = | race = | gender = | base of operations = New York City, New York | known relatives = | status = | born = 1899 Date approximated based upon the relative age of actor Lenny Montana in accordance with the year in which the film takes place. | died = December, 1945 Sonny Corleone mentions that it is almost 1946 at the time that Luca gets killed. This event takes place around the Christmas holiday, making his death fall sometime in late December. | 1st appearance = Godfather, The (1972) | final appearance = | actor = Lenny Montana }} Luca Brasi is a fictional gangster and a supporting character featured in the 1972 gangster drama The Godfather. He was played by actor Lenny Montana. Biography Luca Brasi was an Italian-American, who was originally born in Rhode Island sometime in the late 19th century, around the year 1899. As an adult, Luca was a leg-breaker for the Corleone crime family under the leadership of its founder, Don Vito Corleone. Luca was a large, overbearing man, with a limited vocabulary and poor social skills. His demeanor suggested one of low intellect, but no one could ever question his loyalty to Don Corleone. One of Don Corleone's godsons, a singer named Johnny Fontane, needed help getting out of a contract with a big band leader. When traditional negotiations failed, Don Corleone returned to the man's office, only this time he brought Luca Brasi with him. Brasi put a gun to the band manager's head, and Corleone told him that either his brains or his signature would be on Johnny Fontane's release form. The story of Luca Brasi's visit with the big band manager was told to Kay Adams by Michael Corleone. The event was not actually portrayed on-screen. In 1945, Luca Brasi was a guest at the wedding of Vito Corleone's granddaughter, Connie. He prepared a greeting for the Don that he rehearsed out loud, which startled Kay Adams, who had been sitting nearby. When Kay asked Michael Corleone about this strange man, he explained to her that it was Luca Brasi. He then recounted the tale of his father and Luca's meeting with the band leader, giving Kay the first insight into the lifestyle of the Corleone crime family. Luca had his meeting with Don Corleone and expressed his good tidings to his daughter on her wedding day, wishing that their "first child be a masculine child". When trouble began brewing between the Corleones and a Sicilian narcotics dealer named Sollozzo, Don Corleone enlisted Luca's aid once again. He wanted to get a feel for how Sollozzo intended on dealing with the Corleones, so he instructed him to arrange a meeting with Sollozzo under the premise that he was unhappy with his current career and wanted to switch sides. Luca donned a bulletproof vest and met with Sollozzo and his men at a lounge. Sollozzo knew that Luca was not on the level and he had one of his assassins strangle him with a garrote. Later, Luca Brasi's gift-wrapped vest arrived at the Corleone mansion with a fish inside of it. Peter Clemenza was the first to note that it was a Sicilian message meaning, "Luca Brasis sleeps with the fishes". Notes & Trivia * * Luca Brasis was a character originally featured in the 1969 novel The Godfather by author Mario Puzo. In the novel, Luca's background is provided with greater detail, including his history with Don Corleone, which is not presented in the film. * was also a featured character in the 2006 The Godfather video game by Electronic Arts (EA) Games. * An animated short was produced by director Simon Hawkins in 2009 titled, The Godfather Musical: Luca Brasi Sleeps with the Fishes, which chronicled events that took place following Luca Brasi's assassination. See also * The Godfather * The Godfather images * The Godfather characters * The Godfather miscellaneous External Links * * Luca Brasi at The Godfather Wiki References ---- Category:Godfather, The (1972)/Characters Category:1899/Character births Category:1945/Character deaths Category:Characters with biographies